Electromagnetic safety latch systems

ABSTRACT

A system for electromagnetically latching all the door locks of a motor vehicle by means of a latch member connected to a permanent magnet guided between a pair of tandem coils adapted to be selectively connected to a source of direct current for exerting opposed repulsions on said magnet, at least one of said latch members being adapted to be actuated from the outside of the vehicle by means of a lock key. The latching and release coils are mounted in parallel, respectively, one terminal of each coil being connected to one terminal of said d.c. source and the other coil terminal is connected to the other source terminal through at least one selection contactor having normally open or front contacts, this contactor being responsive on the one hand to the lock key through the corresponding latch member and on the other hand to a handle actuatable from the interior of the vehicle.

I United States Patent 1191 1111 3,747,379

Cabanes 1 July 24, 1973 [54] ELECTROMAGNETIC SAFETY LATCH 3,486,352 12/1969 Bouthors et a1. 70/264 SYSTEMS 2,371,370 3/1945 Ward 70/264 2,139,183 12/1938 Bruns 180/112 [75] 1 Inventor: Alain Cabanes, Billancourt, France [733] Assignees: Regie Nationale des Usines Renault, Primary Examiner-Albert Craig,

Filed: Mar. 20, 1970 Appl. No.: 21,384

AttrneyStevens, Davis, Miller & Mosher [57] ABSTRACT A system for electromagnetically latching all the door locks of a motor vehicle by means of a latch member connected to a permanent magnet guided between a pair of tandem coils adapted to be selectively con- Foreign Application Priority Data M 24 1969 France 6908576 nected to a source of dlrect current for exertmg opposed repulsions on said magnet, at least one of said latch members being adapted to be actuated from the [52] U.S. Cl. 70/264, 70/2802,020(;(1)/563l:(, outside of the vehicle by means of a lock key. 51 1m. 01 E051) /36 The1at9hing and release coils are f t in Parallel, [58] Field of Search /264, 280; respectlvely, one termmal of each @011 bemg connected 2 2/14 201; /103, 104, 111, 112, 113; to one terminal of said do source and the other coil 200/153 K, 6 R, 11 R, 11 A terminal is connected to the other source terminal through at least one selection contactor having 5 References Cited normally open or front contacts, this contactor being UNITED STATES PATENTS responsive on the one hand to the lock key through the corresponding latch member and on the other hand to 122;: a handle actuatable from the interior of the vehicle. 2:877:639 3/ 1959 Gust 70/264 1 Claim, 7 Drawing Figures 37 i 7 Z t 6 I K 1: if p s: 5 it e/ 10 J J\ M'\ 43 T PAIENIEL JUL 24 I915 3.747. 379

sum 1 0r 2 FIG.1

mama] M 1915 3.147. 379

SHEET 2' 0F 2 ELECTROMAGNETIC SAFETY LATCH SYSTEMS This invention relates to electromagnetic safety latch systems and has specific reference to a system of this character applicable to the doors of motor vehicles in order to provide a safety feature in case of crash or shock for the simultaneous locking or releasing of the doors of a vehicle.

Safety latch systems are already known, notably in the automotive industry, which comprise electromagnets incorporated in the door control lock for actuating the catch or bolt member of this lock. However, these systems are objectionable for the following reasons the stroke of the movable cores of the electromagnets can only be relatively short, thus requiring a particular lock construction and an accurate manufacture thereof as a consequence, the electromagnet system must compulsorily be incorporated in the lock mechanism, but this increases the volume of the lock and in most instances the latter cannot be built in the door of a modern vehicle.

It is also known to use, as a member for controlling the lock release, a pair of coaxial electromagnet coils having a common central movable core, a ferrite-type permanent magnet being guided between these coils and connected to a pivoting lock-opening latch. However, hitherto known control devices permitting of energizing one or the other coil of each door in order to produce a repulsion capable of displacing the movable magnet are relatively elaborate and comprise inter alia door-controlled switches, a thermal cut-off device, and at least one diode, thus increasing considerably their cost.

On the other hand, the electric control circuits are unreliable in case of shock, in contrast to various safety rules now in force which prescribe a release or unlocking of all the doors of a vehicle in case of shock or crash.

Moreover, in hitherto known constructions the possibility of locking or unlocking the doors manually and mechanically in case of failure of the electric system is seldom contemplated.

It is the essential object of the present invention to provide a simple and economical solution to the problems set forth hereinabove. With the system according to this invention all the doors of a motor vehicle can be latched or released from outside by turning the key of a lock cylinder mounted in one and/or the other of the two front doors all the doors of the vehicle can be latched or released from inside by actuating a lever disposed on one and/or the other of the two front doors and adapted to control the energization of a switch incorporated in the lock, and thus provide a safety feature against criminal attempts, which is also called antitheft" feature in certain countries a children's safety" is also provided since the unlatching 'or release control members cannot be reached from the rear seats.

This invention is applicable to a system for electromagnetically latching or releasing all the door locks of a motor vehicle of which each door is equipped with a pivoting latch member for latching the door opening control device. This latch member is connected to a permanent magnet guided between a latching coil and a release coil, these coils being of the tubular-core type, coaxial and adapted to be selectively connected to a source of direct current in such a manner that they apply opposed repulsions to said magnet. At least one of said latch members is adapted to be actuated from outside by means of a lock key.

This invention is characterized in that the coils for latching and releasing the doors respectively are mounted in parallel, one end of each coil being connected to one terminal to the dc. source and the other end according as it belongs to a latching coil or to a re lease coil, is connected to one or the other of a pair of selection terminals of at least one three-pole transitoryaction selection contactor having normally open or front contacts, the intermediate terminal of this contactor being connected to the other terminal of said source of direct current, said contactor being controlled on the one hand by said lock key through the corresponding latch member and on the other hand by a control member actuatable from the interior of the vehicle.

Advantageously, the contactor and/or the control device consisting of the pair of tandem coils and the magnet may be constructed in the form of a compact unit adapted to be separated from the lock proper and adaptable to a great number of lock mechanisms of existing vehicles.

The stroke of the ferrite magnet, as well as its diameter and the diameter of the coils, are substantially identical. The latching or release position of the latch member is maintained by magnetic attraction between the ferrite magnet or permanent magnet and the core or one or the other of said coils.

The latching and release coil unit is operatively connected to at least two central control devices consisting of a same contactor incorporated in the lock of one and/or the other front doors of the vehicle. This contactor is controlled on the one hand by one of the parts actuated by means of the lock key from the exterior of the door,

on the other hand through mechanical means mounted on the door and actuatable from inside the passenger's compartment.

This contactor has three positions a mechanically stable open position wherein all the coils are de-energized two closed positions in which the door latching coil and the door release coil are energized, respectively these two positions can only be maintained by a voluntary action from the user.

Advantageously, an inertia contactor of a type already known per se is inserted in the electric circuit so as to energize all the release coils in case the vehicle were subjected to a strong shock or crash.

Finally, the rear doors of the vehicle are provided with visual indicators for signalling the locked or unlocked door condition, which are controlled by the latch member of the corresponding door, the manual actuation of these indicators causing the release of the corresponding door and being possible only by an unusual maneuver which cannot be accomplished by a child.

Other features and advantages of this invention will appear as the following description proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawing illustrating diagrammatically by way of example typical forms of embodiment of the invention. In the drawing FIG. 1 is a wiring diagram of the control circuit of the safety door latching and release coils of a four-door vehicle FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic axial section showing a pair of coils and an intermediate magnet, to illustrate the relative disposal of the various component elements and of the input terminals FIG. 3 is a view showing any type of door lock equipped with a latch system and a lock contactor FIG. 4 is a vertical section taken through a front door of vehicle to illustrate the relative positions of the control member comprising the contactor coils and the two means provided for controlling this contactor FIG. 5 is a detail view showing the contactor in its inoperative position, the cover thereof being removed FIG. 6 is a vertical section taken through this contactor to show the manual control accessible from inside the passengers compartment of the vehicle, and

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic view showing the momentary actuation of this contactor by the release latch member.

Referring first to FIG. 2 it will be seen that the electromagnetic member controlling the locking latch comprises a pair of tandem coils l, 2 i.e. having their tubular cores 3, 4 aligned and mounted on a non-magnetic support 5. A permanent magnet 7 consisting of an axially magnetized ferrite disk is movable between the coils l, 2 and secured to a rod 6 of non-magnetic material adapted to slide in said cores 3 and 4. Each coil consists of a winding comprising from 1,000 to 2,000 turns; The length and diameter of the coils as well as the magnet diameter are substantially equal.

The coils are interconnected through wire outlets 8 and 9 adapted to be grounded at 10, the other outlets 11 and 12 being connected to contact studs 13 and 14, respectively.

When one of the coils, say coil 2 for instance, is energized, the ferrite magnet 7 is electromagnetically repelled and caused to abute against the iron core 3 of 40 the other, de-energized coil 1. Since the stroke of the ferrite magnet has the same order of magnitude as its diameter and the coil diameter, the repulsion force remains practically constant.

Now the association of the device of this invention with a known or existing lock type will be described in detail. It may be pointed out that this invention is applicable to any known door lock system such as releasable push-button locks, roller-type locks, etc., without departing from the scope of the invention.

As clearly shown in FIG. 4, the rod 6 controls through a low-inertia link 15 the lock latching member 16.

The latching member 16 illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 is that, or one of those, which is or are also adapted to be actuated from the exterior by means of the lock key 18 provided for turning the cylinder 19 adapted, during its rotation, to drive a shaft 20 rigid with a small arm 21 carrying at its outer end a stud 22 engaging an arcuate slot 23 formed in said latch member 16.

The latter is adapted to lock, or prevent the operation of, the door lock control device, as follows A lever 24 actuated by means of the push-button 25 is so connected to a lock bolt (not shown) that when it pivots in the direction of the arrow (FIG. 4) the door is unlocked and opened. This lever 24 is normally urged by a spring 26 to its locking position.

In the position illustrated in FIG. 3, the latch member 16 has been pivoted to a position in which it lies in the path of the upper arm of lever 24, thus preventing the pivotal movement thereof and therefore the door release or opening.

This lever 24 may also be actuated by means of another lever 27 connected to a control member disposed within the vehicle but not shown, the pivotal movement of this other lever 27 in the direction of the arrow (FIG. 3) being also attended by the unlocking and opening of the door through the action of the upper arm of this second lever upon that of the first lever 24.

The lower arm of second lever 27 comprises a stud 28 so adapted to co-act with an abutment 29 carried by latch member 16 that the latter is firstly moved out from the path of lever 24, the upper arm of lever 27 subsequently moving the first lever 24 to the door unlocking and opening position.

At its lower portion the latch member 16 carries a projection 30 and in the path of movement of this projection is another projection 31 carried by the end of a lever arm 32 controlling the operation of a transitoryaction three-pole selector contactor 33 having front contacts 37-40.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the movable member of this contactor comprises a pivoting control shaft 34 of plastics material rotatably mounted in a case 35 also of plastic material, the portion of this shaft 34 which projects from the case 35 carrying the lever arm 32 formed with said projection 31. A spring 36 constantly urges the arm 32 to its intermediate inoperative position. The shaft 34 also carries a V-shaped movable contact member 37, the contact studs proper being carried by the outer ends of the arms of this contact member, as shown. In the inoperative position the studs of contact member 37 are interposed between a fixed central stud and a pair of fixed selection studs, without contacting them the latter are connected to the central terminal 38 and to the pair of selection terminals 38 and 40, respectively, of contactor 33. A control member consisting of a handle 41 rigid with shaft 34 is accessible from the interior of the vehicle.

The wiring diaphragm of FIG. 1 shows that the set of latching coils 1 and release coils 2 are connected in parallel, respectively. One end of these coils is grounded at 10, and the other end is connected to the positive terminal of the battery 43 via contact 39 (or when the three-pole selection contactor is tilted to position 45 (or 46), FIG. 7. The negative terminal of the battery is connected to conductors 8 and 9 of said coils via the ground mass of the vehicle.

The electric circuit further comprises an inertia switch 44 which, when closed, is adapted to energize all the release coils 2. This switch 44 is'tilted automatically to its closing position when a strong shock is applied to the vehicle, for instance in case of crash, while shortcircuiting the intermediate terminal 38 and selection terminals 39 of contactors 33. I

It is thus clear that a short energization of the latching coils l by means of any one of the front door contactors 33 is sufficient to latch all the door locks. The same applies to the release coils 2 for releasing these locks.

The two positions (latched or released) of the system are maintained by magnetic attraction between the ferrite disk 7 and one of the magnetic cores 3 and 4.

The shaft 34 of each contactor 33 can be actuated through anyone of the following two means When the external door key 18 is actuated, the latching member 16 is tilted to its locking (or release) position. The stud or like projection 30 of this member 16 carries along the stud 31 of shaft 34 of contactor 33, thus tilting the lever 32 to position 45 (or 46) and closing the latching circuit (or the release circuit). At the end of the movement of said latching member 16, the stud 31 of lever 32 of contactor 33 clears the stud 30 of latch member 16 and the contactor spring 36 restores the shaft 34 to its inoperative position in which no coil is energized.

The same result may be obtained by manually actuating anyone of handles 41.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for the various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptions should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new is 1. Apparatus for electormagnetically latching and releasing automobile door locks connected to a source of direct current, comprising:

a plurality of pivoting latch members, one for each I each of said latching and releasing coils having substantially the same dimension; connecting means selectively connecting each coil of said operative coil pair of said source of direct current to apply opposed repulsive forces to the magnet associated with said operative coil pair; wherein said connecting means includes a key lock mounted exteriorly of said automobile and electrically connected to at least one operative coil pair; further means connecting said key lock to a corresponding one of said latch members; at least one three-pole transitory action selection contactor having normally open contacts, wherein the other ends of said latching and releasing coils are connected respectively to one of first and second selection terminals of said contactor, a third terminal of said contactor being connected to a second terminal of said source of direct current, each contactor further comprising: a pivoting control shaft, spring means connected to said control shaft and normally urging said shaft to an inoperative position wherein said coils are de-energized, a lever having one arm fixed to said shaft, a first projection disposed on said one arm, and a pair 0 V-shaped contacts studs, each disposed, in said inoperative position, between and out of contact with a fixed intermediate stud connected to said third terminal and one of a pair of selection studs connected to said first and second terminals, respectively, and disposed, in an operative position, in contact with said fixed intermediate stud and one of said pair of selection studs; and a second projection mounted on said corresponding one of said latching members, said second projection contacting said first projection to move said contactor from said inoperative position to said operative position. 

1. Apparatus for electormagnetically latching and releasing automobile door locks connected to a source of direct current, comprising: a plurality of pivoting latch members, one for each door of an automobile, for latching a door opening control device associated with said door; a plurality of latching coils and releasing coils of the tubular core type respectively connected in parallel, one end of each coil being connected to one terminal of said source of direct current; a plurality of permanent magnets connected one to each of said plurality of latch members; means guiding each of said magnets between respective ones of each of said latching and releasing coils forming an operative coil pair, the stroke of said each of said latching and releasing coils having substantially the same dimension; connecting means selectively connecting each coil of said operative coil pair of said source of direct current to apply opposed repulsive forces to the magnet associated with said operative coil pair; wherein said connecting means includes a key lock mounted exteriorly of said automobile and electrically connected to at least one operative coil pair; further means connecting said key lock to a corresponding one of said latch members; at least one three-pole transitory action selection contactor having normally open contacts, wherein the other ends of said latching and releasing coils are connected respectively to one of first and second selection terminals of said contactor, a third terminal of said contactor being connected to a second terminal of said source of direct current, each contactor further comprising: a pivoting control shaft, spring means connected to said control shaft and normally urging said shaft to an inoperative position wherein said coils are de-energized, a lever having one arm fixed to said shaft, a first projection disposed on said one arm, and a pair o V-shaped contacts studs, each disposed, in said inoperative position, between and out of contact with a fixed intermediate stud connected to said third terminal and one of a pair of selection studs connected to said first and second terminals, respectively, and disposed, in an operative position, in contact with said fixed intermediate stud and one of said pair of selection studs; and a second projection mounted on said corresponding one of said latching members, said second projection contacting said first projection to move said contactor from said inoperative position to said operative position. 